As the World Cup fever grips fans across the globe and Brazil is preparing to face Croatia at the opening match on Thursday night, the Brazilian government is being criticized for excessive spending on the World Cup and metro strikes are threatening to disrupt the opening game in Sao Paulo.

In a TV address, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said that Brazil is ready, on and off the pitch, for the football World Cup which starts on Thursday. Ms. Rousseff stressed that “the pessimists” had been defeated by the determination of the Brazilian people.
She rejected criticism of overspending, saying that the tournament would leave a lasting legacy of infrastructure. Ms. Rousseff defended the $11bn expenditure on the tournament, calling it a “false dilemma” that World Cup spending somehow diminished investments in health and education. “The budget for these areas between 2010 and 2013 was many times greater than the investment in stadiums”, she underlined.

“Rest assured of this,” she said addressing the Brazilian people, “the World Cup accounts are being meticulously scrutinised by the country’s auditing institutions.”

Jennifer Lopez will sing at the opening ceremony after all

Although FIFA officials announced earlier this week that the singer wouldn’t perform the official tune “We Are One (Ole Ola)” alongside Pitbull and Claudia Leitte, Lopez said they will perform before Brazil takes on Croatia at Thursday’s opening game in Sao Paulo.

A spokesperson for the 44-year-old singer stated in an announcement that “Jennifer has always wanted to participate in the World Cup opening ceremonies. Any statements to the contrary were premature. Jennifer would not want to disappoint her fans or fans of football. She will be there.”